


Metaphorgotten

by wordbender (singingwithoutwords)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Metaphors, as these things tend to do with children, does this count as fluff?, i don't know fluff and i don't have much history, if that's fluff then so is this, it's just kids having dumb conversations too early in the morning, local child hero asks the important questions, metaphors which quickly spiral out of control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/wordbender
Summary: This is not a conversation Zuko would have envisioned having a month ago.  That's not a bad thing.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 161





	Metaphorgotten

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this comic on tumblr](https://cardboredghost.tumblr.com/post/623143211940151296/zuko-loves-to-be-cuddled-u-cannot-change-my-mind).

“Hey, Sifu,” Aang says brightly, far too awake at this hour for anyone but Zuko to deal with, “Are you the big spoon or the little spoon?”

Zuko glares, because it’s his default expression rather than because he’s actually annoyed. “I’m the _knife_ ,” he says.

Sokka, still half asleep and only mostly upright because he’s leaning most of his weight on Zuko, snorts. “He’s the little spoon.”

Zuko turns even redder than usual. Toph bursts out laughing, and Katara snickers into her breakfast.

Aang does not laugh. He instead looks thoughtful. “Could _I_ be the knife?” he asks after a moment.

Toph laughs again. “Twinkle Toes,” she says, “you are nowhere near dangerous enough to be a knife in _any_ context.”

“I can be dangerous!” Aang protests.

“No, Toph’s got a point,” Sokka says. “Spoons can be dangerous, trust me, Gran-Gran has whacked my knuckles _so_ many times, but that’s not the same as a knife.”

“Exactly,” Toph agrees. “Sparky is definitely a knife because he has to work to _not_ be dangerous, but that’s not you.”

Aang pouts in a definitely not-a-knife way. “I guess,” he concedes. “So does that mean Zuko really is a knife and not a little spoon?”

“I don’t see why he can’t be both,” Katara chimes in. “I have no desire to know what goes on in your tent after dark, but I do know that Zuko is definitely the little spoon, but he’s also always closer to the entrance, and he’s always got his swords _and_ his bending, so it’s like he’s the one protecting Sokka. That's very knife-like to me.”

“So... he’s a little spoon with a sharpened handle?” Aang asks.

“A shank made out of a spoon,” Toph corrects like there’s a distinction there.

“The Mechanist showed me a really cool folding knife he made,” Sokka pipes up. “He wanted to put other stuff in the handle, too, I bet he could fit a little spoon in there.”

Zuko groans, but it’s obvious he’s fighting a laugh. “ _How_ did I never manage to capture you idiots?” he wonders out loud.

“ _I_ was smart enough to not be here,” Toph points out. “But more importantly, is Zuko a spoon-shank or a fancy folding knife-and-spoon?”

“I can’t be just a knife?”

“No,” all four of them say at the same time, and Appa moans what sounds like agreement.

Zuko sighs, casting Appa a betrayed look that promises a lack of treats in the bison’s near future.

“Face it, firecracker,” Sokka says, reaching up and patting Zuko’s cheek fondly. “You’re too snuggly to be just a knife.”

“I’m abandoning you guys,” Zuko announces. “There’s a cat in Taku I can convince to take me on as an apprentice after the world ends.”

“Won’t the cat be dead by then?” Toph asks.

“No, I’m pretty sure she can survive anything, after what she did to that supply caravan.”

The Gaang as a whole decide Miyuki’s frankly astonishing rap sheet is a much more interesting topic of discussion than what exactly Zuko is in this convoluted cutlery metaphor, but Zuko isn’t naive enough to think this is the last he’ll hear of it.

Hopefully, it’s at least the last he’ll hear of it until lunch.


End file.
